Many Are Cold, but Few Are Frozen

I've been living in Jakarta for nearly five months. It has not been easy. Since my family arrived at the end of June, we've had to move three times before finding a place that worked for all of us. Transportation issues have been hellish, especially in getting the kids to and from school (we eventually gave up and forked out the cash for the school bus—it was cheaper than therapy). And all the while demands at work grew more and more pressing.

But I still like it here. A lot. I can't tell you why. If I were to write a list of pros and cons about living in Jakarta, the con list would spill from one page to the next. The pro list would fit in the margins of my business card. So why do I like it here so much?

A colleague's post in Facebook gave me the answer. I don't remember the details, but it defined being somewhere as a state of mind rather than being in a physical place.

For me, Jakarta is a state of mind. I am mentally at ease here, even if there is much to dislike about the city.